A unique testing opportunity - 4 tablet PCs side by side!

I have a unique opportunity to test 4 convertible Tablet PCs side by side for the next couple of weeks

1) Toshiba M200 2.0 ghz, 1gb ram, 60 gb hd

2) HP TC1100 1.2 ghz, 1 gb ram, 60gb hd

3) Lenovo X41 1.5ghz, 1 gb ram, 60 gb hd

4) Gateway M280, 2.13 ghz, 1gb ram, 80gb hd

I won’t be comparing them for speed, but for portability, battery, touchpad / track stick, typing, screen, pen on screen feel, flushness of the screen to the casing, etc. Basically – usability testing for the mobile professional.

Why bring the HP in the mix since it is being discontinued? I consider it the standard in portability, and I’m curious as to how the others stack up. Plus, I know I can sell it quickly and I got it for a very good price – brand new.

Why the comparisons? I continue to have customers who are interested in tablet pcs, and they would like to see them all lined up, play with them, etc, and I get to be the beneficiary. When I’m all done, I’ll have one to two tablets for sale.

OneNote plug-in for MindManager

Hobie Swan gave me a heads up this afternoon that Mindjet would be releasing a cool new OneNote plug in for MindManager. Thanks to the keen eye of James Kendrick, I went ahead and downloaded the export plug-in – it works really cool.

I don’t think I’ll use it a great deal, but I can see this coming in handy for inking on top of a mindmap; and then when OneNote 12 comes out, the text on the mind map will be searchable within OneNote as well – that will be really cool.

Not only do they feature an export plug-in for OneNote, they also have an Import plug-in for Windows Journal files.

The secret life of an MS Author: First impressions of Motion LE 1600

Looking for a Tablet Guy?

Attention Tablet PC enthusiasts: If you are looking for your own Tablet Guy, check Tablet PC Buzz.com . Dennis is running a contest over there. The contests will pickup shortly after the judges are picked.

Sunday, November 27, 2005

InformationWeek > Tablet PCs: Stuck In A Niche

Aaron Ricadela of Information Week has just published a fairly accurate “state of the Tablet PC” article . I was actually pretty impressed with the article.

Aaron does a pretty decent job in covering the latest tablet pc initiatives, such as touch screens, summarizing the struggles, as well as point to where Vista will help bring some of this together.

Sales of the pen-based computers, which let users write text or issue commands with an electronic stylus, are set to increase 88% this year to 1.2 million units, according to market researcher IDC. Yet they'll remain just 2% of the overall notebook market.

Baylor is budgeting $1.5 million to $3 million for tablet PC hardware and software development during the fiscal year that ends next June, Byrd says. But some hospitals may continue to avoid tablet PCs unless their weight drops to less than a pound and their price to less than $1,000. If they do, "that's when adoption will explode, especially in health care," Byrd predicts. Bundled with accessories and preloaded software, tablets from Motion Computing can run $2,500 to $3,000, Byrd says.

It is going to take time to get to that price point and weight, but we’ll get there. The good thing that this article shows is that Microsoft is still fully behind the tablet pc, as well as the OEM’s.

I walked away from the article thinking – the OEM’s have recognized issues and tackling them: are there challenges? you bet. Stuck in a niche? no…we are just about to hit the prime time.

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Why techies are leading the back-to-paper movement

Dave has mentioned the back-to-paper revolution here, and he's right. Strangely enough, it's mainly a revolt of tech lovers against their favourite toys, junkies eschewing their drug of choice. It's painful, it's heart-wrenching, it flies in the face of our own self-identities, and it makes all our high-tech podium-thumping and evangelising suddenly look hollow.

Trading away the handhelds, tablet PCs and online productivity tools for pens, planners, cards and Moleskines is a leap of faith, like toppling a regime in the hope that the next one will somehow be more benevolent, more attuned to your needs, and offer greater opportunities. It may not, and you may find yourself before the firing line, remembering with fondness the evils of yesterday.

Giving Thanks Day

I want to personally wish each of you a wonderful “Giving Thanks” Day.

This years “Giving Thanks” Day will be remarkably different for us than the past 2 years when chaos normally reigned. I asked Maggie last night “How do you feel right now compared to several months ago”. She replied “I feel very, very happy. I have not felt this good in a long time.”

This year, I am thankful that God has given us peace, is restoring Maggie, and is restoring our family. However, this year, I am most thankful for you – the visible and invisible church, the people that God has used to carry us and keep us strong. May the Lord continue to bless you and your family, be gracious to you, and make His light to shine upon you.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

What Is New : Touch and ink do work together

Lora is talking about the new Fujitsu P1510d Tablet PC with touch capabilities – pros / cons, etc. I have to tell you, this device has me a bit intrigued. Since I use my tablet pc frequently in the car, having the ability to touch activate something is attractive.

Out and About with OneNote Mobile

Chris Pratley's is talking about OneNote Mobile and the killer feature – taking pictures with your smart phone, syncing to onenote and then onenote automatically OCRing the picture – for example, taking a picture of someone’s business card and then searching for that text -

English Standard Version Bible for Tablet PC now available

Through a licensing arrangement with Good New Publishers, I’m pleased to announce the availability of the English Standard Version (ESV) for the Tablet PC via http://www.tabletbible.com/ . Like previous offerings, this Bible is free.

It has been specially formatted with wide margins and double spacing for notetaking. In addition, it includes the awesome footnotes and red letter formatting that you have come to expect from the ESV Bible. Either GoBinder 2005 or Plan Plus for Windows XP is required.

Download the new Bible here: www.tabletbible.com/esv.pli . After downloading, import it into GoBinder / Plan Plus by going to File / Import and point to the location where you stored it on your local computer. Then specify where you want it imported to. I’d recommend creating a Bible tab and importing it there.

Non GoBinder / Plan Plus users: I am working on another version of the ESV either as a stand alone application or to work in OneNote. If it is a stand alone version, it will be more than a Bible markup tool. I’d like for it to be a general purpose book markup and notetaking tool. More on that later.

Friday, November 18, 2005

Tablet PC Thoughts: Next GoBinder Beta Build?

Today we are working hard to complete the next beta build of GoBinder 2006. It's taken a number of weeks to get it completed, however I think that it is well worth the wait. The engineers have been doing a lot of work on performance, bug fixes, and a lot of enhancements. Things are really getting a lot more solid. If we get a good build today, then we go into code lock-down for a week or so to clean-up and fix any last major bugs before doing a public release.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Tablet Guy story winner announced

ok…I’ve only received one entry in the Tablet Guy story contest; however, the one entry I did receive was VERY good. Seeing as how I likely won’t get any more entries, I’ve decided to call the winner. Illuminator, you did a great job. You have a Tablet Guy coming your way.

Here is his story

Tablet PC Guy Saves the Day:Meetings, meetings and more meetings; it seems like it will never end. If I have to attend one more meeting, I think I will explode. I walked through the courtyard, on my way to another meeting when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Turning to the right, I saw Tablet PC Guy drop from the sky, landing in the middle of the court yard. He waved me over and said he understood my frustration. He assured me that there was an easier way. At that point, he handed me a Tablet PC. I told him I already had a laptop and asked how this would be of any additional help. He smiled and showed me OneNote. After a few minutes, I was left with a smile on my face as I skipped across the court yard, towards my next meeting, and Tablet PC Guy flew off to save another, overworked and underpaid, IT guy.As I walked into my latest meeting (the third of the day), I saw that the facilitator had a small micro recorder. He was planning on recording the meeting to make sure his minutes were accurate. That makes sense. I sat at the table, with my new tablet, using OneNote to take my own notes. Unknown to everyone else I was also recording. After the meeting, I went on about my business; another meeting. Later, as I reviewed the days meeting notes, I was approached by the micro recorder carrying facilitator. He stated that his minutes were probably going to be incomplete and possibly late, due to a recorder malfunction. I looked at him and smiled. I asked him for a thumb drive and in a couple of minutes handed him a complete copy of the meeting audio, synced with the notes I had taken. His minutes were completed ahead of time and with more detail than he was previously able to provide. Whew, Tablet PC Guy saves another day.

Weblogg-ed - The Read/Write Web in the Classroom :

This week, our Educational Technology Committee will make a recommendation on what route to take regarding the classroom model pilot we've been running here the last two months. For those that may not have caught my previous posts about this, our pilot model is a teacher Tablet PC, wireless network/Internet connection, and a wireless, ceiling mounted projector with screen. In preparation for the meeting, we've been collecting the responses from a survey of our pilot teachers, reflections the superviors at our school, and the report of an independent researcher we had come in to observe and interview the teachers. Hopefully, I can give a more complete picture of what the results a bit later on, but I just wanted to share some of the early feedback from the teachers. I will tell you that all of it, 100% has been positive.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Beta testing Office 12!!

Tablet Guy Giveway - Question 1

I’ve got a few more Tablet Guys to give away than I originally thought. Seeing as how I’ve only received 1 response on the Tablet Guy story contest, I thought I might throw out a couple of more contests. I’m still accepting Tablet Guy story entries, though.

From Wednesday – Sunday, I’ll post a question of the day. The first one back with a correct answer wins. Be sure to post your email address as well. A person can only win once. Check back on Thursday for question # 2

First question:

What famous person did I demo a tablet pc to? What brand of tablet pc was it and where was it demoed? Hint – dig around the www.tabletpcbuzz.com

The Dutch animal protection agency said Tuesday it is investigating the shooting death of a sparrow that knocked over 23,000 dominoes during an attempt to set a world record.

The ill-fated bird flew into an exposition center, threatening to derail a world record Monday, before it was chased into a corner and shot by an exterminator with an air rifle.

"That bird was flying around and knocking over a lot of dominoes. More than 100 people from 12 countries had worked for more than a month setting them up," he said.

He said organizers had believed the building was fully sealed against birds and mice. The company is considering some kind of memorial or mention for the dead bird during the television broadcast Friday, he added.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Using a tablet pc with one hand...

Steve talks about how the tablet pc helps him do some things he would not otherwise be able to do since he hurt his left wrist ice skating. Read on for some more info

On Sunday we took the kids iceskating. It was only the second time I'd been skating and the last time was 30 years ago! All was going very well until about 50 minutes into the session when I had my first fall. It was also any last, because I hurt my left wrist quite badly. It isn't broken, but it is quite swollen, and I'm effectively one handed at the mount. Typing is quite hard work, so I've had on opportunity to by out the alternatives that a tablet PC provides.

Gateway commercials

I’ve had several friends ask me about the new Gateway “convertible notebook” commercials that they are seeing on tv. They told me that the notebook looks very cool and were thinking about getting one. They also asked me “it looks like it will do tablet pc stuff, too, like what you have been doing for a while – is that right”?

Sunday, November 13, 2005

A month later....

Things are going really well in the Bushway home. A month after returning home from St. Louis, we are finally feeling settled in.

Maggie has not had a single seizure since returning home. She has done a remarkable job in tackling her fears with situations that would have previously caused seizure activity. Her surgery looks to be a complete success. Maggie’s physical therapist will likely release her because she is doing so well. Her biggest struggles to date have been with her stomach, which appear to be ulcer related (due to stress and medicines). Maggie has a long road ahead of her learning wise, but we have seen God’s hand upon her precious soul and know without a doubt that Maggie has chosen to live her life to the fullest.

Dax, Anna Kathryn, and Zoe are doing remarkably well. The toughest time was our first couple of weeks home. A lot of emotions coming out of those wonderful kids.

By the way: Our foot is now in the pool of relief and excitement – we are looking forward with much anticipation to the big “belly flop”!

Fifteen years ago this coming Thursday (Nov 17), God united Kathi and I together. I recall Dr. Louis Hill speaking on how wonderful it is to be married to your best friend. I can relate to that. The past 2 ½ years have been a reaping of the seeds planted during our first 12 ½ years of marriage. The gift that God gave us 2 ½ years ago has made the many rides to Starbucks, watching Alias deep into the night, and sitting next to each other without having to say a word so much richer. It really does go beyond “being thankful for the little things” – it is a deep, rich relationship sewn by much pain and much more joy that words cannot do justice – a true gift from God.

Southwest Airlines - win a Thinkpad X41 Tablet PC

What Is New : What do you use a PC for anyway?

In answer to Lora’s question about what influenced me to buy a Tablet PC? I bought one in December of 2002 when there were very few applications. It was the promise of things to come – the allure of what the applications could be like. The hardware was attractive, but it was a means to the software.

What keeps me using a Tablet PC today? It is still the allure of things to come, but the primary thing that says “ahh…you really need a tablet pc to do that the way you want to” is MindManager. I just love taking notes that way.

I also love taking notes in my Bible. it is why I’m still exploring the best way to develop an app to give folks a dedicated application for inking on their Bible and possibily books.

Without those two applications, I honestly could justify not using a Tablet PC. I would be satisfied with just doing everything in text.

Tablet Guy give away contest

You’ve seen all the blog entries about the famous Tablet Guy. Well, I’m running a contest and will be giving away at least one Tablet Guy.

Here is the contest:

Write a short story that involves the Tablet Guy. Use your imagination. It can be as short as a paragraph or as long as 2 – 3 pages. My only requirement is that it contain no vulgarity or sexual innuendos. Submit your entry as a comment to this post.

I’ll review the entries and pick at least one winner. The winner(s) will receive their own Tablet Guy to proudly display next to their Tablet PC. I'll accept entries through 11/25 and then announce a winner by 11/28. Be sure to leave an email address on your entry so I can contact you. Feel free to anti-spam ( ex. rob at zoeinc dot com )

I hate it when companies do this

Please – when listing your phone number on a website for contact purposes, use real numbers. Figuring out how to dial the following Verizon sales number was a real pain. By the time I got the number dialed the first time, my phone timed out on me and I had to do it again.

My experience with Tablet PCs

Forgive the long post, but I’ve been working on this for a while.

On November 7, 2002 Microsoft launched the Tablet PC platform and what a ride it has been.

I have been through more computers in the past three years than I ever thought possible. I have owned or still own the following Tablet PCs in the following order: HP TC1000, Motion M1300, Toshiba M200, Motion M1400VA, HP TC1100, HP TC4200, Motion LE1600 VA, Gateway M280E, Toshiba M200. That is 9 Tablet PCs. Fortunately for my checkbook (with the exeption of one or two tablets), I’ve been able to sell them for about what I paid for them.

2 hybrids3 slates4 convertibles

Some of the tablets I used for 3 – 4 months, others I’ve used for a year. Still others, I only used for a week or so. I used the M200 for the longest period of time – about a year.

One of the reasons for the cycle of tablets is that I have to really use a new form factor before I can make any recommendations to my customers. I have to really understand the issues involved – I’ll spend time and money on my end so my customers don’t have to deal with the high learning curve on their end. I’ve learned a tremendous amount about the strengths and weakness of each platform. I can examine someone’s working style or occupation, be able to explain the challenges and issues and be able to speak from an “I’ve been there” perspective.

Just this past week, I met with a customer and we were talking about using a computer in the warehouse. no need for keyboard when walking about. Without any hesitation, I told him to look at the LE1600 and its docking solutions. I knew it would work for him because I had used it.

So, what have been my challenges and what I have I leared about how I work the best?

Screens – The TC1100 10” screen was too small for my needs. The 14” tablet is too big and heavy for how mobile I am. The 12” size has proven to be my favorite – thus the attractiveness of the Motion slates and the Toshiba M200. I really love the View Anywhere Motion screens, and the M200 screen works really well with its high resolution and when you remove the grainey coating. I love a screen to be flush with its casing – the tc1100 and m200, and M280E have that. The LE1600 doesn’t. The TC4200 doesn’t. I understand that Motion’s LS800 is flush. Don’t underestimate how much a smooth surface does for your arm when writing. All tablet PCs should have flush screens.

Keyboards have shown to be more of an issue than I thought or wanted them to be, but it has been where I have learned my greatest lessons and offer my customers and OEMS the greatest insight. I have a longing for a great slate tablet pc. i don’t know what it is about them, but I just like the “idea” of using a slate. I just don’t like the “reality” of using one. You can look at my list of tablets and see that my slates have all been Motion Tablet PCs. I really, really like them. Motion designs a fabulous slate Tablet PC. However best they have tried, though, Motion Computing has not been able to get the hardtop / convertible keyboard right. There have either been typing quality issues, latch problems, hinge breakages, or loud hinge creaking sounds. The keyboard can’t attach to the back when using an extended battery, so I had to remember to bring it with me wherever I went. The only place to attach the keyboard when not using it was the front – which means you can’t write on the tablet. While using the LE1600 and its keyboard in a meeting, i would adjust the angle and create a loud creaking sound that would totally disrupt the meeting – that is not the transparent computing that Tablet PCs are supposed to deliver. Bottom line:The seamlessness and transparency to use the Motion keyboards with the slate has been lacking and it has caused me a lot of headaches. Thus, after using them, I’ve always gone back to either a hybrid or a convertible.

One of the problems may lie in my standard of comparison: the TC1x00. HP just did that one right and nobody has been able to match them. The keyboard just naturally fit in with the slate part – no loud noise, no breakages, no typing issues. Flip it around to use it. Lock the tablet into a portfolio – with or without the keyboard attached. Write on the tablet while locked in the portfolio with the keyboard attached. Seamlessness and no worries.

Speed – As nice as the TC1100 is, it has never been a speed demon in regards to video and processor. With the type of programming work that I do, I need something more capable. That has always been the driving force for me when I have decided to move past the TC1100. The LE1600 and M200 have proven to be very capable in that regard. The TC4200 is a very capable convertible as well – for the money, you get a lot of tablet pc.

Battery – I have really grown to appreciate extended batteries. As has been shown from above, I don’t like having to remember to bring something else along or charge another battery in the battery charger, bring my ac adapter, etc. I just want to take my computer and be able to use it for 5 hours if I need to with no battery worries. The LE1600 really spoiled me in that regard. The battery fit so nicely in to the back and I never worried about charging it or bringing it along. The TC4200 has an extended battery as well, but it felt very awkward with it attached to the back – not smooth or integrated. I like the idea of tablet PCs with CD ROM support soley so I can use it for extended battery purposes. That, to me, would be ideal.

Docking Stations – docking stations have proven to be very useful to me – just grab and go – don’t worry about the cable mess. Motion and HP have made the best docking stations in my opinion.

All of the above bring to me what I have learned about how I best use a tablet pc.

At my desk: For me, I have found that a tablet pc is best used as an secondary computer. I normally own at least two computers at a time – one for production work, the other for notetaking and beta testing software. I could, theoretically get away with one high powered tablet pc. However, I don’t like Extended Display and have never been able to get it to work reliably. I want to do my work and be able to take notes just by reaching over and writing. For as much promise as Extended Displays offers, it is just not a transparent process to do so. For example, I’m currently using an M200 as my tablet pc. As much as I would like to, I can’t use it as my only computer because I can’t write and work at the same time. I can’t just reach across with my right hand and jot a note. I have to flip the screen around, rotate it, then write. That is too much interuption in the flow of working. If I leave the M200 in tablet mode, the display gets flipped upside down on the monitor. So..I have two computers: A thinkpad t42 on which I do my programming work and an M200 on which I do my notetaking while at my desk. Lately, most of my notetaking and project planning takes place in MindManager, with a heavy reliant on ActiveWords and their InkPad product. I do all of my email work on my thinkpad. Nothing special about the thinkpad – it could be a high powered desktop for all that matters. I just like having the flexability of bringing both computers with me wheverever I go, whenever I need to.

When mobile: I use the Microsoft sync powertoy prior to leaving and take my M200 with me. My Verizon EVDO / CDMA card stays with me in the car so I can jump on the web when I need to. A PC card slot is essential. I’ve got all of my programming tools, files, and notes with me. The keyboard is a non-issue since it is attached. My only worry right now is battery – since the M200 doesn’t support extended batteries, I have to remember to carry an extra one with me – it is a pain, but I’d rather deal with that pain than the pain of a convertible keyboard and the issues it brings. I take my tablet pc with me to church for notetaking and bible markup, and I prefer to use my tablet pc when sitting in the recliner watching Monday Night Football.

So…given all of my experience with hybrids, slates, and convertibles, where does that leave me in terms of my ideal? Well, the closest that I’ve gotten to my ideal is with my current M200 – 12” screen, 2.0 ghz, 60 gb 7200rpm harddrive, 2 gb of ram, 1400 x 1050 resolution, built-in keyboard, and a pc card slot. I needed a tablet that could perform as well as my laptop and that it does. It could be drastically improved upon by adding an integrated modular CD ROM for extended battery purposes. Unless Motion designs a tablet like the TC1100, I don’t think I will ever go back to using a slate. I need my tablet to work for me, not me work for my tablet.

For right now, that is where I am at. I’ve learned a lot about how I work and what works best for me. The great thing about Tablet PCs is that there IS a right configuration for you. Somewhere in the mess above, you will find your best configuration.Who knows, I might end up buying a TC1100 1.2 ghz for historical purposes – I doubt we see another one like it for quite some time.

OnTheRun with Tablet PCs Podcast - Robert Scoble

Marc Orchant and James Kendrick chatted for an hour with the number one Tablet PC evangelist, Robert Scoble, who did the interview sitting on the red couch. Robert was raring to talk about a whole lot of wide-ranging topics and everyone will take a lot away from this show.

How do you keep your tablet pc and desktop in sync

Matthew Dinmore has a thread running at Tablet PC Buzz.com regarding keeping your tablet pc and desktop in sync. This thread is for some research he is doing as part of his doctoral program in Information Systems.

He poses some very interesting questions – be sure to add your input. Maybe someone at Microsoft or another third party will be watching this thread and give us some better sync tools.

Lamenting the loss of the TC1100 Tablet PC

HP will be discontinuing the model as of 12/31/05. In my opinion, HP’s hybrid design has never been equaled by another OEM. Some have come close (Motion’s LE1600), but none have matched it. The ergonomics, asthetics, and flexability have made the TC1100 my all time favorite tablet pc.

So…if I love it so much, why don’t I have one anymore? Not enough juice for my needs. The video card is 32mb and the top speed is 1.2ghz. After talking with HP’s Ben Thacker at Windows Anywhere, I began to understand that TC1100 has a true cult following, but the current design of the TC1100 is too limited in meeting the battery loving, video card demanding, processor hungry consumer.

So – HP will be designing convertibles that are ultra mobile, have a great keyboard, and will be able to address the needs of the customer – which means gaining market share. I believe that HP hit a homerun with the TC4200 and we should start to see more units like it, only lighter, faster, and longer running on battery.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Hyped Over Skype

In a back alley in London's SoHo district—amid the seedy sex shops, comic-book stores and coffee joints—you'll find the humble headquarters of one of the world's most important telecommunications companies. But it's not easy: only a tiny buzzer marks the door of a converted warehouse. The decor inside—IKEA furniture, a couple of limp potted plants, bike helmets strewn about the reception area—is the same as it was a year ago, when the company was still an obscure start-up. But the small workspace is more crowded nowadays, jammed with several dozen fleece-clad techies hunched over laptops. Together, they're expanding the reach of the online telephone service known as Skype—a prospect that has the $1 trillion global telecom industry downright terrified.

:30 Librarian: Tablet DOA

This is one hilarious post about someone’s tablet pc that just stopped working properly – the claim is that the tablet pc is buggy. Read a little further down, though, and we learn that the tablet pc was dropped and it bounced nicely – hmm…wonder if that had anything to do with it.

For those of you interested in my tablet PC doings, I thought I would share the news that for the moment it is DOA. It will start booting into Windows and then will go no further. I'm turning it in to for a visit to the Tablet Witch Doctor and hopefully it will come back good as new.

Fortunately, my counterpart in charge of this project warned me that these things were buggy, so I set GoBinder to do a daily backup onto the included 1GB secure digital card and saved everything else to our network drive. I won't lose anything except my preferences in FireFox, thank goodness.

I did drop the tablet the other day; it bounced nicely. I don't know if this is related or not, but it seems like the problems would have showed up sooner if they were actually caused by the incident. We'll see.

Monday, November 07, 2005

Warner asks "What Am I"

I think the tablet label will go away, and we will see notebook, convertible notebook, slate, and ultra portable convertible notebook. They are all classified as mobile PCs. I believe if the tablet label sticks, it will replace the slate label. Wherever I see the tablet label, it almost always is in describing a computer with no keyboard.

The question won’t be ‘Can I write on it” – that will be a given. Touch won’t be a given, but writing will be.

If apple releases a slate, it won’t be called iTablet – Apple won’t give Microsoft the pleasure. It’ll be something like the iPad.

American Girl and Girl's Inc.

Most of you who have followed this blog know that my daughter took her Make A Wish trip to the American Girl Place in Chicago. American Girl dolls hold a special place in our home . Unfortunately, now, our family is having to take a stand regarding American Girl’s affiliation with Girl’s Inc. There won’t be any American Girl Christmas presents in our house as long as American Girl continues their affiliation with Girl’s Inc.

Tracie and Richard Cross have four daughters, who have seven American Girl dolls between them. Every time a new American Girl catalog arrives at their Ft. Worth, Texas, home, the girls fight over who gets it first. Last Christmas their dad gave them wooden beds he'd made for the dolls. The girls adore them, but their parents, like so many other conservative Christians, love them, too.

1) I think that ActiveInk is on to something. The enhanced clipboard functionality is very cool, especially the custom recognizers like phone numbers, addresses, numbers, etc, and the ability to categorize the stored info.

2) I copied some ink from Journal and it converted it to text. I honestly expected it to have the ink available. I wanted to work with the copied ink as ink – not text. That is a much needed improvement – especially from a company called ActiveInk Software

3) When I installed a new version over the existing one that ActiveInk sent me, I was prompted with a message that I needed to uninstall the existing one first. ActiveInk should handle that for me through a smarter install program.

4) Offer the product with a download trial mode. Prospective customers need to use the program on a trail basis before deciding whether to purchase it. The on-line demo is cool, but people need to use it and see the value add. It is the only way ActiveInk will sell a bunch of them.

After using it for several hours, would I buy a license at $49? If they added the ability to store copied ink as ink, and then work with that ink – I might seriously consider it. I’d be more tempted if the price were around $20 – $25.

The M200 Tablet PC

I’m reevaluating the Toshiba M200 Tablet PC for a customer. I picked one up from a seller on www.TabletPCBuzz.com. 2ghz, 60gb 7200 rpm harddrive, 1.5gb of ram. It isn’t the new and improved wide screen angle that just came out, but it is still a nice tablet pc.

This thing smokes the M200 I had last year. I’ve been very surprised at just how fast this tablet is. Another improvement – the pen. The clip on the pen I used with my old M200 kept breaking. They seem to have made this clip much stronger and less likely to break.

A keeper? i don’t know….it is certaily lighter than the Gateway M280 and just as powerful, but it is missing one thing – an extended battery.

Bible app question - input needed

I’m seriously considering writing the new interface to the bible app using the ESV text. I’ve had over 4,000 downloads of the NKJV which was free to folks. That shows me that the interest level is there. What I need to gauge is the interest level in paying a small amount for a better interface and search functionality.

Writing this application will take considerable time and effort . It is difficult to dedicate that time to something that folks might expect or want for free (think e-sword).

I’ve already got a feature list and interface in mind. Would you be willing to spend $20 for a true inkable stand alone bible application that is based on the ESV? One that you can store study notes, create links to other parts of the bible, and also write on the bible text? Do a look up by verse? Quickly navigate to the verse you need? Flag notes? See a search summary by flag notes? My goal here is not to reinvent the wheel, but to provide something simple that one could use in church or during a study.

I’m working through the ROI issues and now I need to hear from you – the potential customer.

I want Microsoft to buy TEO so it will finally add true ink functionality to Outlook. I want it there in Outlook 12 and not Outlook 13 / 14.

I want Agilix to add searching by note flags to GoBinder 2006 and not wait until the next release. Note flags are there – now give us something useful to do with them and please don’t wait until the next release. I might end up switching to OneNote 12 because of this.

This whole process has caused me to start to rethink my implementation of the ESV Bible. I’m still going to finish it up to work within GoBinder (I’m already half way finished), but I honestly believe I can release a simple application that will offer better searching, chapter look ups, etc. It’ll likely be built using InfiNotes as the note taking module. That is why Microsoft and Agilix worked together on this API – to make it easier for companies to embed notetaking into application.

Saturday, November 05, 2005

My OPML feeds

I have added a link to my Blog List that contains my OPML feeds – a list of sites that I follow daily – mostly tablet pc oriented, but also some technology ones as well. As I add feeds to my reader, I’ll be sure to keep this file up to date. I try to add these sites to my Blog List, but it’s a bit harder to make those changes.

Feel free to download this file ( right click and choose Save Target As) and then import it into to your RSS reader.

Convertible Notebook vs Table PC

Marc commented on the “Convertible Notebook” vs Tablet PC marketing spin that Gateway is pursuing. Personally, I think this is a smart move by Gateway. People are comfortable with notebooks, and to think that they are going to get extra functionality in a device they are already familiar with is much safer than thinking about embracing a new fangled technology. Could we be seeing the beginning of the end of “Tablet PC” in marketing pieces? Don’t know – depends on how successful Gateway is.

In essence that is what the convertible tablet is: a convertible notebook with added functionality. The slate tablet is essentially a notebook computer with no keyboard – the slate pc. I think the “slate” descriptor will stick with those devices. In the end, they are all mobile PCs.

Amazon.com to allow book page purchases

This new Amazon program looks to be a great thing for consumers. I could see myself buying a few chapters out of a book, or better yet, accessing the entire book on-line for an additional fee.

Book buyers, soon you’ll be able to pay by the page.

With its new Amazon Pages service, Amazon.com Inc. plans to let customers to buy portions of a book — even just one page — for online viewing. A second program, Amazon Upgrade, will offer full online access when a traditional text is purchased.

For Amazon Pages, Bezos said, the cost for most books would be a few cents per page, although readers would likely be charged more for specialized reference works. Under Amazon Upgrade, anybody purchasing a paper book could also look at the entire text online, at any time, for a “small” additional charge, Bezos said. For instance, a $20 book might cost an extra $1.99.

The ThinkPad is returning to retail

According to Engadget and a couple of other on-line reports I’ve read, Lenovo will be selling the thinkpad in the retail space as early as Sunday – starting off with Office Depot. The good news for tablet pc enthusiasts is that the thinkpad tablet pc should also be available.

After using a thinkpad for a couple of months, I can understand the loyalty folks have with the thinkpad line – they are great laptops.

I’ll be headed down to the local office depot soon to checkout that Thinkpad Tablet PC.

Tracy's "Paperless" Update Delay

I couldn’t resist posting this from Tracy's paperless challenge. Tracy is not off to a great start when she wrote the outline for her paperless challenge on the back of a piece of paper. This is going to be a lot of fun!

I know I said I'd post the first Paperless Challenge update, but it's been a crazy week and my sleep-deprived brain isn't working well right now. Plus, I wrote an outline on the back of a piece of paper when I was walking around campus yesterday and that outline is now in the hands of my professor because I forgot I had to turn that paper back in :-P. I'll make a real outline this time and try to write it tonight or something.

A new place for spam's old pitches

Now that Web logs — blogs, for short — are a popular online pastime for millions of people, scammers are finding new ways to exploit them as vehicles for junk advertisements.

The Internet has even coined a term — splog, a combination of spam and blog — for a phenomenon that follows in the footsteps of rogue advertising such as spam e-mail, junk mail, junk faxes and adware. The new forms of spam can show up on blogs as fake comments posted by readers that actually have nothing to do with the subject at hand. Instead they are advertising pitches or attempts to get you to click on an unrelated Web site.

They also can be set up as bogus blogs; go looking for a blogger talking about, say, bathroom renovations, and you could wind up on a Web site that has a few random renovation-related words but that mainly tries to get you to click on links to advertisements.

Experience Pack for the Tablet PC

I tried them all out, but have primarily just stuck to using Snippng Tool and Art Rage, although I have been using SnagIt much more lately. The Ink Desktop was nice for a short while, but I found it to be too slow and buggy for regular use. I’m not a crossword guy, so that never appealed to me. The media player skin was very cool, but I use iTunes for all my music. I turned off the Energy Blue theme – I prefer operating my tablet pc adjusted for performance and using Windows Classic.

So for me, the experience pack was basically an upgraded Snipping Tool.

What did Microsoft do right and what did they do wrong with this pack? What would you like to see improved or added?

Mind Manager on the Tablet PC

After using Mind Jets’ MindManager primarily on a keyboard the past couple of weeks, I can attest that this program really shines as a tablet pc app. The interaction between the program and pen lends itself so much better than a mouse and keyboard driven app. Why is that?

With just using the pen, I can write the gesture to create a topic or subtopic and then write the topic – all done without changing input mechanisms. Using the keyboard, I have to move the mouse to a blank area, put my hands back on the keyboard, and then type.

MindManager and Tablet PCs – the two were made for each other.

Now – if MindJet would just add tablet pc functionality to the brainstorming module, I’ll would be really happy!

Microsoft acquires file synchronization service

Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it had acquired FolderShare, a service that helps computer users share and synchronize large files without needing to use e-mail, burn CDs or upload information to the Internet.Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Launched in 2002 and run by Austin, Texas-based ByteTaxi, Inc., FolderShare gives customers private, remote access to their files through any Web browser, Microsoft said.

PassAlong Networks CEO's Tablet PC - Forbes.com

Interesting inteview with PassAlong’s CEO Dave Jaworski. It is a bit short, but it is great to see a CEO extohl the virtues of the Tablet PC.

What's the one device you wish someone would invent?

I need an "Instant-on" Tablet PC, something half the size of my current laptop, but still full powered (fast, large hard disk, CD/DVD, memory and long battery life). Then I could stop carrying my Moleskine paper notebook for those times when toting today's larger notebook computer is not practical.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Another Mac to Tablet PC switcher starts to blog

Looks like there is another Macintosh to Tablet PC switche coming on board. Quyen’s blog will be an interesting one to watch as he chronicles his new journey. Quyen also has two reviews posted on his blog: The Thinkpad X41 Tablet PC and the Fujitsu T4020 Tablet PC

I am foremost a Mac user. There were just too many quirks in XP that drove me crazy. Nonetheless, my recent experiences with Tablet PCs have begun to warm me back to using XP. Also, I've been waiting a long time for a Mac tablet and I refuse to wait any longer (I admit that I'm not much of a typist).

48 Hour Trials of Tablet PCs

As many folks are looking to try out tablet PCs, but can’t get their hands on them, I’d encourage everyone to visit Allegiance Technology Partners. They feature a 48 hour demo on a variety of platforms: convertibles, slates, and hybrids. For those who want to try out a slate vs a convertible, you couldn’t have a better solution.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Acer C200 on TigerDirect

James points us to the new Acer C200 which is now on ww.TigerDirect.com . This looks like a great Tablet PC. It will be very interesting to see the comments starting to appear on the Buzz.

The new Acer C200 convertible Tablet PC with the innovative sliding hinge is now available on TigerDirect. This is the same sliding hinge Tablet that has been shown in the past by Bill Gates. I have played with one very briefly and it is very cool. The C200 is only $1699.99 on TigerDirect which is a very nice price.

Active Ink Software, Inc., a Microsoft Tablet PC Premier Partner announced the general availability of the Active ClipBoard, which allows you to store words, phrases, files and images in a clipboard for later insertion into other applications.

The Active ClipBoard can store an unlimited number of text items and can be alphabetized for easy retrieval. Text can be input using a digital pen and includes 13 different handwriting recognizers for improved results.